No. 47.
Mr. Kasson
to Mr. Evarts.
Vienna, August 7, 1880. (Received August 23.)
Sir: From the tabular report of the city magistracy in charge of the bureau which controls the provisioning of the city of Vienna, I translate the following statistics, which ought to be interesting to the corresponding official control in the great American cities, where unfit food so often causes disease.
The entire annual consumption of beef in the city amounted to 435,320 meter-centner (a meter-centner is 100 kilograms). This represents 119,200 kilograms per day, 58½ kilograms per capita and per annum, or 160 grams per day for each person. This includes the inconsumable waste.
The qnantities of food confiscated from the market as unfit for food [Page 64] is reported as follows: 60 beeves, 359 calves, 193 sheep, 83 lambs, 778 hogs, 58 horses, 27,181 kilograms beef, 9,330 kilograms veal, 482 kilograms mutton, 1,906 kilograms pork, 432 kilograms sausage, J,784 kilograms fish, 13,600 crabs, 56 geese, 83 ducks, 1,055 chickens, 43 stags, 177 kilograms venison, 23 hares, 284 wild birds, 7,132 eggs, 2,418 liters of milk, 57,048 kilograms of fruit, 329 bottles of mineral water; 133 false measures, 29 false wagons, and 76 false weights also paid the penalty of dishonesty.
Such a record bears strong testimony to the vigilance of the inspection, and to its useful results in guarding the population against the deceptions which lead to disease or reward dishonesty in trade.
I have, &c.,